Conventionally, in preparing card-shaped printing media such as credit cards, cash cards, license cards and ID cards, used are printing devices for bringing a thermal head and a platen roller into press-contact via an ink ribbon to form an image on a film-shaped intermediate transfer medium, and transferring the formed image to a printing medium.
Such a printing device is usually provided with a supply section to supply card-shaped printing media, a printing section that having an image formation section and an image transfer section, and a storage section that stores printing-processed printing media. A printing medium supplied from the supply section is transported to the printing section, and the printing section transfers an image formed in the image formation section to the printing medium in the image transfer section. Further, in recording magnetic information or the like on a printing medium, or in storing electronic information in an IC incorporated into a printing medium, a magnetic write section or an IC write section is provided on the upstream side or downstream side of the printing section, and various kinds of information are recorded on printing media. The printing media subjected to the printing processing by transfer of the image and the recording processing by write of the information are stored in the storage section provided on the most downstream side.
In addition, in the case of performing the printing processing and recording processing on a large amount of printing media, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the supply section, the transport path is also increased, and there is a tendency that the entire printing device is upsized. To avoid the upsizing, such a technique is disclosed that the printing section is disposed above the supply section, a change section for changing the transport direction of printing media is disposed on the downstream side of the supply section while being on the upstream side of the printing section, and that the transport path of the printing media is below the printing section while being above the supply section (for example, see Patent Document 1). In this technique, since the supply section is disposed below the printing section, it is possible to miniaturize the printing device, and to increase the supply number of printing media corresponding to the length of the transport path.